


ANOTHER TIME: ELENI OF CRETE

by vanhunks



Series: ANOTHER TIME SERIES [an über series of stories] [2]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Another time setting; über story, F/M, Freed slaves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 22:26:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15650154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanhunks/pseuds/vanhunks
Summary: Eleni recovers in the home of the Roman centurion Flavius. She has an immediate impact on him. Set in the AU über setting of early common era, the town of Sidon where Flavius is stationed.





	ANOTHER TIME: ELENI OF CRETE

**Author's Note:**

> Second installment in the Roman Centurion series, written about twenty years ago for the ASC - alt.startrek.creative.

* * *

ELENI OF CRETE

* * *

 

It felt as if her body was on fire and the fire brought pain. She wished for a moment that she could sink into that dark realm where pain subsided. But it crept to the surface causing her to cry out in her distress.

She heard voices. They broke through the pain.. _Where am I?_ she wondered. She tried to move, but felt a stab of pain in her chest. She let out another involuntary groan.

"You must lie still. Please do not move, Eleni."

She struggled to put a face to the voice, which sounded kind, like music of the lyre, so soothing. A hand, comforting, lay gently on her forehead. Did a white dove just descend on her? she wondered. Eleni tried to reach out and touch that hand.

"Please do not be alarmed," the kind voice said. It was a strange voice, not her new master. But it sounded just as kind. It soothed her, and her body stilled, for it felt to her there was healing in the sound. It did not burn so much now. Could just touch voice calm the fire in her?

The voices receded, as if their owners quietly left the room. Room? But it was only because she drifted quietly into a balming sleep.

*************

"Well, what do you make of her injuries, Lucanus?" Flavius asked his friend.

Flavius had changed into a white robe with white toga, its edges adorned with gold braiding, and held at his left shoulder by a gold clasp. Every inch a patrician Roman, born into wealth. His father had served in the Roman Senate until his death. Lucanus studied his young friend whose concern for the inured slave did not surprise him.

Lucanus studied the face of the young woman. The deep cuts on her forehead were not random, he'd realised very quickly. Her previous owner slashed her face down the middle of her forehead, before carving across, from the centre. It reminded him of a spider. The cuts were deep, but he had treated them with enough unguents. He had also laid is hand on her and prayed for healing. Already the scars did not look so flamed.  Lucanus rose to his feet and spoke to his friend. "She will recover," my good Flavius. "Your mother, the lady Tullia can now take over here."

They left the room quietly to sit in the courtyard. Lucanus had collected his instruments and the rest of the medication, herbs and poultices in his medicine bag. He joined Flavius on one of the long benches under an olive tree.

"She was very badly treated, good Lucanus. I saw your expression. One cannot help but be filled with repulsion. I do not condone such violence, you must know."

"Yes... it the harsh life of the slave," Lucanus replied.

Flavius understood. Lucanus himself had been born to a slave, but was adopted by the Consul of Antioch, when that man married Lucanus' mother. They were now Roman citizens.

"She is free. I own no slaves here, Lucanus. Those who work here are free men and women. Eleni can remain here, or return to Crete or wherever she can find a position as a handmaiden."

Lucanus of Antioch saw the concern in his friend's eyes. He also saw more than that and gave a little inward laugh. He thought Flavius's days of being an unmarried and handsome Roman of untold wealth would very soon come to an end. Lucanus had watched the sick woman who, although she was unconscious, seemed to turn her face in the direction of Flavius' voice every time he spoke. And Flavius visited the patient more than what was fitting of the master of the household.

"You have a good heart, Flavius," said Lucanus, whose eyes were as blue as those of his friend. "Perhaps this time your heart will reap the rewards of your good deeds."

"And you, Lucanus, do not need to speculate." But Flavius was smiling when he said that.

"I will be here the same time tomorrow. She should be much improved by then."

Lucanus went back into the house to bade his farewell to the lady Tullia. She was in the sick room, bathing the young girl's arms and neck, soothing, talking all the time she worked. Flavius followed him into the room. His heart grew warm at he sight of her. Most of the scratches in her face and arms were now healed, thanks to the healing power of Lucanus. It was the deeper cuts on her forehead that concerned him, but Lucanus assured him that even those would heal, with time.

Tullia accompanied them to the door, where she left them and returned to Eleni who was still sleeping. Poor girl, Tullia thought. Her injuries were worse than they expected, and she had collapsed soon after she stepped into the cool foyer of the house. Flavius picked her up and carried her as if she weighed nothing. She did indeed seem to be alarmingly thin.

But Tullia could see, even in this state, how Eleni affected her son. She longed to see Flavius settle down and take charge of their vast properties in Alexandria. If this sweet young woman was going to be the instrument to prompt such a decision from him, she would have Tullia's blessing. Tullia saw a great deal of instinctive pride in Eleni, whatever the circumstances of her birth was that determined her destiny. She was clearly refined.

Eleni stirred again, with only a soft moan escaping her now. Tullia watched how she struggled to open her eyes. Dark eyes stared at Tullia - uncertain, but free of the pain that had been there earlier.

"Where...where am I?" she croaked weakly.

"My child, do not distress yourself so. You are in the house of Flavius of Alexandria. He rescued you three days ago. Do you remember that?"

"My lady - "

"Yes, Eleni of Crete. I am Tullia, his mother. How are you feeling now?"

Eleni looked at the older woman and felt her eyes beginning to sting with tears. She was only a slave. Nothing. With no prospects except to warm the bed of her master, when he so desired. This woman and her son treated her with kindness, like she was a person, not an object sold at the market place, on show for all to see. She cringed at the thought. How the last trader stripped her so the men could inspect her, touching her, their hands rough, squeezing, their fingers probing, insistent...

She closed her eyes and she cried...

She felt a cool cloth on her face, wiping the hot tears that would not seem to stop.

"Hush, my child. For you, that life is over," Tullia assured  her as she drew Eleni in her arms and comforted her.

At length, she lay back again. There was a question in her eyes.

"I think," Tullia said, "Flavius would be better equipped to answer your questions." She smiled as she saw Eleni's surprise that the older woman could read her thoughts. "You have many questions, I can see that. I understand, my child. Rest now, while I get Flavius to see you."

Eleni closed her eyes again. Her new master... Flavius. She saw him again as she lay on the ground, while men scattered after they stoned her. Like a Trojan soldier breaking through the throng he looked down at her. His helmet was magnificent and his eyes blue like sapphires. He reminded her of Hermes, or Eros. She shrank back, afraid he would hurt her, like all of them. But his eyes were kind - laughing eyes, she decided. Eleni wondered if he would be a mischief maker, like the handsome messenger Hermes.

Now she was his property...a slave to be taken to his bed at every whim and cruel method.

She looked up when he entered the room sat down on a low stool next to her. He was dressed in white robes, so different from his uniform, but even more distant. He touched  her cheek, but she shrank from his touch.

"I will not hurt you. Here you are safe."

She tried to look for reassurance in his eyes. "I - I am indebted to you, Master, for - "

"Eleni!" Flavius  said with mild anger. "Did I not tell you not to call me that?"

She tried to remember, but the last few days had meshed into a stream of hazy recollections. She could not remember. She shook her head.

"What is my name?" he challenged her. He looked into he eyes. There was a flash of pride there. He knew she would react to that. Then he suddenly wondered just why he knew that she had such fierce pride. She'd been only three days in his home.

"M- You said F-Flavius."

"Good. Then that is what you shall call me."

"Yes..."

"What is my name, Eleni?" he asked softly.

 "Flavius."

"Good. Now, Eleni, how do you feel now?" he asked softly, his hand touching the bandage on her forehead. She closed her eyes when she felt his hand on her, then opened them quickly again.

"What - what is this?" she asked, touching the bandages.

"I take it you do not remember."

She nodded.

"A physician treated your wounds the last three days. He will be here again tomorrow, to look at this," and he pointed to her forehead.

 "I owe you my life...Flavius Thomas Parisi."

"So you do remember!"

For the first time Eleni smiled. It lit up her face and Flavius knew in that instant that Eleni of Crete would remain in his house forever, under his roof, in his protection.

"It is late, Eleni. You must rest now. I will visit you again tomorrow after the parade of foot soldiers."

As he rose to leave, she touched his sleeve hesitantly. She looked at him with less of the fear of earlier.

"Thank you..."

"It has been my pleasure, Eleni of Crete," he said, then gently touched her cheek again before he left.

**************

_"You slave wench! If you fight me, I'll use this dagger and carve you here," Quintus barked as he scored her forehead with the point of his dagger. She tasted blood as it began dripping into her mouth._

_"Please, Master, enough. Do not hurt me..."_

_"I'm not done with you, sweet Eleni," he leered as he pulled her simple tunic from her, leaving her exposed._

_"No...please. No more."_

_"Yes... more. Say yes, sweet Eleni, before I cut you."_

_"No - "_

_"Then damn you," he said coarsely as he parted her legs and mounted her, his engorged member so big, she screamed as she felt herself tearing as he rammed into her. His hand was on her throat, the other hand playing with the dagger in her face._

_"Say yes..."_

_"No..."_

_She screamed as he pounded roughly into her. He heaved, grunting obscenely, not stopping._

_"What do you say?"_

_"Yes..." Then she cried uncontrollably as he continued, stopping suddenly, drawing out. She thought it was over until he flipped her over on her stomach, and she felt him kneading her buttocks, pressing them open..._

_"No - !! No - ! Don't -!" she screamed._

Flavius was sitting in his library studying some scrolls - correspondence between Cicero and Caesar - written in Latin. He should have some of these accounts translated into Greek, he was still thinking when he heard a scream coming from Eleni's room.

He found her on the low bedstead, whimpering and curled into a foetal position.

_"No...don't...please..."_

"Eleni, wake up," he shook her. "It's a dream." Nightmare was more like it as he saw her quivering with fear.

"Wake up, Eleni." He touched her gently, but in that moment she opened her eyes and screamed again, shrinking violently away from him.

"No - ! Don't touch me, please," she pleaded.

"Eleni, it's me, Flavius. Look at me. I won't hurt you - "

But she cowered against the wall, away from his hand. Flavius had come in with a lamp which he had put down on a table. He saw the abject fear in Eleni's eyes. Damn him who put it there, Flavius thought. Damn him.

He leaned forward on the bed, and pulled the trembling Eleni in his arms. But she started to fight him off, beating against his chest, telling him not to hurt her. But Flavius held her tightly so long, until he felt her trembling began to subside.

"Shhh...it's over now, Eleni. Over. No one will hurt you again. No one," he said, his voice filled with a deep promise. Her body, so bony and emaciated was warming again. His anger rose, his imagination given free rein at what her former owner or owners must have done to her. That arrogant Marcus Tullius - Flavius couldn't imagine why he remained friends with him so long - sometimes regaled him with tales of what he could only call sexual abuse of their slaves.

He rocked Eleni gently, talking softly to her, assuring her she was safe.

Eleni wondered how being in Flavius's arms could make her feel at home.  It was warm and comforting. She had fought him off, thinking he was Quintus, then thinking he was like Quintus. But the arms around her would not go away. It held her even closer. She smelled him, her face in his neck, his hand on her hair. She had never been held like this, like being cherished. As if she belonged there. Only then she relaxed.

"You are safe here, with me..." she heard him say.

She did not realise that she had been sobbing quietly. He wiped her tears, consoled her. When she had calmed down at length, her eyes started to droop, and she slipped quietly into sleep again.

Flavius smiled as he looked down at the sleeping Eleni in his arms.

He placed her gently back in the bed, pulled the cover over her. Stroking her cheek, his heart went out to this defenceless woman whose only crime was that she was a slave.

He sighed. He hated slavery and the idea of it. Removing a person's freedom in this way, treating them like merchandise was an abhorrence to him. If truth be told, that was how many merchants in their caravans on their way to Damascus, referred to them. Merchandise. He cringed. In the past few years, in fact, ever since he listened once to the Nazarene talk, he tried buying as many of them, then freeing them, having it officially documented by the Magistrate who happened to be the father of Marcus Tullius.

Eleni had been freed the same day he brought her home. He didn't think that she remembered anything. She had a high fever after her ordeal at the hands of her former owners and those lechers who would always throw stones.

He stayed with her most of the night, making sure that he would be there if she had the nightmare again.

***************

The following day Eleni was able to sit up. The warm sun threw its beams on the floor of the room. She looked much better, Tullia thought as she held Eleni's hand.

"My child, the physician will be here again to look at you. He wishes to make sure you have recovered. He is a good friend of Flavius. They studied in Alexandria, Lucanus in medicine and Flavius in military strategy."

"My lady Tullia, I feel much better. My wounds healed very quickly. He must be a very good physician."

"You will never find a better one, my child," Tullia said, a secret smile forming on her lips.

Eleni thought how like her son she looked, with that smile and those same blue eyes.

Her heart started pounding. Flavius comforted her during the night. It felt so good.

There was a rustle at the door, and a man entered, perhaps only a little older than Flavius. His eyes were a startling blue, like Flavius, and his smile was kind.

"How is the young lady feeling today?" he asked kindly. She knew she had heard that voice. The voice that healed her.

"You healed me, Master, with your voice..."

"Eleni of Crete, do not call me master. There is only one Master and I am not He. I am Lucanus of Antioch."

"Lucanus...of Antioch. Luke. You are Greek? Like me?"

"Yes, like you, Eleni of Crete."

Flavius had also entered then, this time in his uniform, but without his breastplate and helmet that reminded her of Hermes. She looked at him, her eyes giving away what she was feeling. Luke and Tullia merely smiled indulgently, knowing that Flavius had captured her heart as she captured Flavius' heart.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, and waited till Lucanus removed the bandage.

"There, all nice and cleanly knitted together," Lucanus said as his fingers went lightly over the now faint scars on her forehead. "Nothing that a few months in the sun in Alexandria can't heal completely," and he winked at Flavius, who had the grace to blush.

Eleni touched her brow, felt only the faint outline of the marks Quintus made on her. She was still holding her hand there, when she gave a soft sob, tears spilling from her eyes. Three people watched the young woman weep, all three hoping that it would go a long way to healing her spirit. They left her, until she stopped at length.

Once again, it was Lucanus who broke the silence. He touched Eleni's cheek, then said: "Go well, Eleni of Crete. When I see you again, it will be in Alexandria, I hope."

"You are leaving?" she asked softly, rather boldly.

"Yes, I am to join my good friend Theophilis and journey to Macedonia. I will be away for some time. Take care of Tullia and Flavius, Eleni of Crete," he said enigmatically.

She was too surprised, so she just nodded to him. Then he left, having spoken with Flavius already.

Tullia touched her cheek. She leaned forward and kissed her brow. Eleni closed her eyes. She was not used to being treated like their equal. Then she did something unaccustomed. She threw her arms around the older woman and hugged her tightly.

They stayed like that for long seconds, until Tullia told her that Flavius was waiting to speak with her.

*************

Flavius came to sit next to her on the bed and took her hand in his.

"Eleni, you are no longer a slave, do you understand me? You are freed, and it has been officially entered so in the Magistrate's records." He waited for her reaction. She looked surprised.

"I freed you on the day I brought you here, Eleni of Crete."

"You are too kind to me, Flavius. I do not deserve your kindness -"

"I'll shall decide on that, Eleni." He took her by the shoulders and shook her a little.

"I - " and she looked away, trying to extricate her fingers from his hand, but he pressed her face so that she had to look him in the eye. "I am not worthy..."

"Eleni..." and now he cupped her head in his hands, his face only inches away from her, "You are more worthy than anyone I have known. Because you are brave, you have great inner strength."

Her mind was in a sudden whirl. He was too close to her. A warmth radiated rom him and she could not understand what it meant. She had never been regarded as anything but a slave, a piece of merchandise to be sold and resold on the market. Many men had owned her and none had any regard for her person, showed her any compassion, their interest only in her body, rough, physical, leaving her with no ability at all to fight back. Now Flavius, who bought her and freed her leaned in, her face so close that the blue of his eyes actually appeared deep azure. _He is going to kiss me_ , Eleni was still thinking when she felt his lips on hers - soft, caressing. Aa thrill coursed through her, desire, alien and strange. She pulled away from him.

"Shhh...Eleni. My kiss upsets you?" he asked.

She backed against the wall this time, and Flavius could see the fear in her eyes. He cursed once again her former tormentors, and realised he would have to be very careful with her.

"Eleni, you are a freed slave. Free. Do you wish to remain here, in the house, as a companion to my mother?"

She felt her eyes filling with tears. She thought of the lady Tullia, and of their kindness towards her. Her eyes were dark with emotion. She had no idea what happened to her parents after they'd been captured. Perhaps by now they were both dead. She had nowhere to go.

"I do not have any more family, Flavius. I - I would very much like to stay here."

"Long enough, Eleni, to agree to become my betrothed?"

Eleni of Crete looked at her rescuer, handsome as Hermes and Eros, with his very blue eyes and blonde hair, combed from his crown forward in the typical style of the patrician Roman. There was a smile playing around his mouth. But he waited.

She knew she was harbouring feelings for this man, feelings she felt unlawful, yet he has asked for her hand.

"I - I..." she struggled to say it, but pressed forward. "There have been many men, Flavius. How could you want me?"

"You were defenceless then, Eleni," he said, his heart almost breaking at the hopeless sound to her voice. "You were used, robbed of your freedom. You are beautiful, courageous and pure," he assured her. "Do you understand that?"

She nodded.

"Now, Eleni of Crete, will you marry me? And live with me forever?"

Eleni's face became flushed, her lips parted slightly, all the terrible things she had gone through, forgotten in the few moments she looked at Flavius of Alexandria. After a few days in his care, she found it difficult to digest that he could want her, that he could love her, enough to want her as his wife. Something sprang from her own bosom - fresh, new, alien. Her heart raced when he looked at her, touched her with care and affection, love.

"Yes, Flavius."

Then she reached out her hand to his face and touched his cheek tentatively. Her fingers caressing his eyes, his cheeks, his lips. She found it. Love. Her arms went round him as she hugged him.

Flavius gave a gentle groan as he held her.

"I love you, Eleni of Crete."

**Author's Note:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
> Some of you may have guessed the Lucanus in the story is Luke of the Bible, who wrote the third gospel and Acts. Four of the five Bible commentaries I have researched, credit Lucanus as a physician. He studied at the university of Alexandria (source here: Taylor Caldwell's novel - "Dear and Glorious Physician"), the then seat of culture and learning. All sources refer to him being of Greek birth, from Antioch, although records show, including the Bible, that he resided for a time at Macedonia.


End file.
